A ‘feline’ good story of caring

Saturday

Aug 31, 2013 at 1:39 PM

Carol Winters

This is a “feeling good” story or maybe we should say a “feline” good story.About six weeks ago, a kitten was mauled in a resident’s front yard by a pitbull. The resident took the white and tabby kitten, which was about 1 month old and apparently on its own, to Dr. Steve Haase of the Animal Wellness Center of Pontiac. “The kitten was in shock and half of its front paw was ripped away. This pitbull thought of the cat as a toy, and the kitten was suffering like a baby with shaken-baby syndrome. It was really out of it and acted even younger than its age,” Haase said.“All dogs (even friendly ones) will bite if they are fearful or in pain, or sometimes they will bite while trying to play with a person or another animal. It is a part of a dog’s communication,” he added.“We thought the kitten, a domestic short hair, was suffering from severe trauma, and we thought the kitten might not make it through the anesthesia. At a month-old, a kitten’s kidneys and liver are not functioning as an adult’s would function, so the risks go way up,” he added.“We did not want it to suffer, and some staff thought we might have to put it down. I did not want to do that, because the kitten was so cute, young and helpless. We thought it deserved a chance, so we decided to perform surgery. ”One surgery was needed to remove the kitten’s two toes that were just dangling from the its paw. A second surgery was needed to remove the tissue of the third toe that was not healthy, he said.“There was some radial nerve damage, but that was only temporary. The day after surgery, the kitten was eating food. We decided to keep the kitten for a while, because we needed to monitor its progress,” he said.“Because the large pad was not harmed, the kitten would be able to bear weight and walk again normally,” he added.Another month passed, and the nameless kitten was ready to be adopted. “We did not want to give it a name, so the adopted family would have the opportunity to name the kitten,” Haase said, “but, we of course each had our own cute name for it.“We searched everywhere for a home. We asked around to people we knew, and no one was interested in adopting the kitten until last week. We found a family that would be willing to see if the kitten would fit in with the two cats they already owned. If it did not work out, we said we would take the kitten back and keep searching. So far, things are going well with Fiona (the kitten’s new name),” he said with relief.“We get these types of cases each month. We had to absorb about $800 because of the surgeries, medicine, antibiotics, testing, vaccines, and care. We used to perform non-profit work like this a lot, but with the economy like it is, we just cannot afford to do it as often. People cannot pay their bills, medicine and hospital equipment and supplies cost a lot and prices continue to rise, and the times are difficult for pet owners,” Dr. Haase said.“We see many animals that have been mauled, abandoned, or hit by a car. We have even seen wild animals that need rehabilitation. We try to get these animals to wildlife rehabilitators who are certified,” he said.Haase added, “We have a great staff at the clinic — they are kind and caring and really babied the kitten. They kept its oversized boarding cage clean, took the kitten out to play, mothered the kitten, monitored it and diligently fed it.” “We all get by with a little help from our friends,” so if anyone has any ideas on how more hurt and sick animals can be helped, send me an email at dcwinters@frontier.com or stop by the Animal Wellness Center and talk to Dr. Haase.